Portfolio A Belief In Design And A Love Of Photography

RSS? Sounds like a really fast old Ford Escort? Generally people expand the term to “Really Simple Syndication” although Rich Site Summary also explains RSS quite well.

RSS allows you to collect news and postings from newspapers, blogs, libraries, etc. and read them in one place. Popular RSS feed readers include Google Reader and Bloglines.

Putting it simply it’s good way of saving you time, a bit like having all of the interesting articles from various papers and magazines put together in a single folder for you.

How Does RSS Work?

Firstly you need to set up some form of RSS reader. As an example Google Reader is a good option to those who already have a Google account. Simply go to your account and click on the link to it and set one up. That’s about all there is to it. Of course once you set a reader up you will need to subscribe to some feeds. All sounds a bit techy? Think of it like ordering a newspaper from the newsagent and then getting it for free.

The good bit is that when the websites that you are interested in are updated you will be told about it when it happens.

How To Find RSS Feeds

It may be that the websites already have an RSS feed set up with a link. Look at the top of this site and you will see a button that sends you to this link. What you generally see is a cut-down version of the original website, quick, lean and easy to browse through with links back to the original source.

Your RSS reader will include a search facility in it which will allow you to search for whatever floats your boat.

I am interested in Moto Guzzi motorbikes so that is what I type in. I’m also interested in CSS, web-design, WordPress so again I have searched some interesting sites and collect the feeds to browse through over a coffee or two.

Should I Include an RSS link on My Site?

Absolutely! Make it as easy as possible for your readers to keep up to date with your site.

My final top tips are,

Once you have set up your reader subscribe to your own site. Firstly it will let you see what your viewers see. Secondly it will aid your SEO.

Put your reader on your Start Page. You do have a start page don’t you? Come on please keep up.